Earplugs
by Uozumi
Summary: Dean and Sam start with the first logical solution to the problem presented in the season six finale. However, things do not go as planned.


**Fandom** _Supernatural_  
><strong>Character(s)Pairing(s)** Chuck, Dean, Gabriel, God, Sam; no pairings intended, take it as you will  
><strong>Genre<strong> Drama/Gen/Supernatural  
><strong>Rating<strong> PG-13  
><strong>Word Count<strong> 3,021  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong> Supernatural c. Kripke, CW, WB  
><strong>Summary<strong> Dean and Sam start with the first logical solution to the problem presented in the season six finale. However, things do not go as planned.  
><strong>Warning(s)<strong> spoilers up through season six episode twenty-two, this fic deals with the concept of the existence of God, so if that is an uncomfortable topic then this would be a fic to skip  
><strong>Notes<strong> When I was little, I used to read the Bible during Sunday service. From that background, I decided to go with how the Bible presents God, along with clues from the show itself, to deduce His representation.

_**Earplugs**_

It took a month of digging but Sam and Dean eventually tracked Chuck down. According to Chuck's literary agents, the author was in temporary retirement and wished not to be disturbed. They had to disturb.

"Do you think he'll really tell us?" Sam shut the car door. The house was small and modest. It did not stand out against the rest of the neighborhood, though it was one of the few without children and their toys out and about at the mid-afternoon hour.

"I don't know," Dean shut his door, "but he'll tell us something. It's not like he can hide behind Raphael now."

"Yeah but we can't just bully him into it either." Sam followed Dean up to the front door. "He's a person, Dean, prophet or not."

Dean gave Sam a look. It was not the first time Sam had said that to him. Dean took a breath and put a fist to the door to knock on it. Yet, his fist could not move off the door as though it was a large piece of flypaper. "The hell?" Dean tried to pull his fist from the door, but a long string of sticky substance followed before forcing the hand back onto the door.

"Does it hurt?" Sam stared. He began to try to think what could be causing the problem and how to fix it.

"No. But, dammit, we need hot water or something." Dean tried to pull his fist away again, but it only pulled a shorter distance away before snapping back in place on the door.

"I think you should 'speak "friend" to enter,'" a voice stated from behind the brothers.

Sam turned around and Dean looked over his shoulder at the man standing on the walkway leading up to the house. His blondish-brown hair stuck to his scalp despite the slight breeze and his light brown eyes surveyed both brothers before his lips quirked into a smirk. "Miss me?"

Dean's eyes widened and Sam blinked rapidly a moment. "G – Gabriel?" Sam managed.

"Bastard," Dean grumbled, "let me go." He tried to move his fist, but it was now stuck tight.

Gabriel snorted. "Always so bossy. You're the idiot who put his fist on my trap in the first place."

"Doors don't typically come booby trapped," Dean retorted. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Gabriel replied. He looked at Sam, who was over-staring at Gabriel. "What's wrong with you?"

Sam shifted his weight. "You were dead," he paused, "maybe dead."

"Yeah," Gabriel ascended the few steps up to the front porch, "I did die." He stood next to Dean and folded his arms casually. "I got back maybe a year ago, your time."

"Aren't you going to, you know?" Dean tried to pull his hand away again to emphasize that Gabriel should stop messing around and fix things. The fist stayed firmly stuck to the door.

Gabriel snapped his fingers and Dean's hand became unstuck. "I wouldn't try knocking again until I say it's okay though," Gabriel warned.

"So, why are you here?" Sam asked. "Did you take over watching Chuck after Raphael died?"

Gabriel's expression faltered slightly but then returned to its casual smirk. He shook his head. "I've been here longer than that. Sometimes duties shift." He unfolded his arms and put his hands in his pockets. "You're probably here because you heard rumors of orgies anyway."

Dean rolled his eyes. "We're here, because Chuck knows where God is." His eyes narrowed. "Hell, even you probably know where He is."

"Hell would be the wrong guess," Gabriel snorted. "Nice try though."

"You know what I mean." Dean tried not to touch anything.

"You probably heard," Sam tried smoothing things over, wanting to gain information instead of go in circles, "about Cas."

Gabriel's forehead creased and his lips lost their smirk.

"That's why you're here," Sam continued, "because someone has to protect Chuck. Raphael was doing your job, because you're the angel of prophecy and the messenger of God. Now that God brought you back, you're doing the job you were supposed to."

"Anyone ever tell you that you give away too much?" Gabriel took his hands out of his pockets. "You aren't getting in to see Chuck. He can't tell you where God is, or if God is even dead."

"Can you really kill God?" Dean asked. He pulled himself up to his full height, trying to use the five inches he had over Gabriel's vessel to his advantage. "Because I saw what all that Purgatory shit did to Cas. Somehow I think that if God is out there, He's stronger than some misguided angel on steroids."

Gabriel was quiet a long moment. "Do you really think you can intimidate me?" He reached out and tapped his finger to Dean's nose.

Dean yelped, both hands going instinctively to cover his nose where Gabriel shocked it. "Dammit, Gabriel, I'm not here to dick around."

"You want to help Cas, don't you?" Sam asked. He softened his features as he studied Gabriel, using his face to manipulate as he might against his brother. "He's your brother and he's sick. I mean, you can't just ignore it. If you two were human, you'd probably try to do something like take him to a psychiatrist, right?"

Gabriel shook his head. "We're not humans. Human rules don't apply to angels or archangels or even God." Gabriel gestured to the outside world past Chuck's front stoop. "You two nitwits can't even see the answer in front of your faces."

Dean's gaze took in the front lawn before moving down the street and to the houses along it. Before Dean could fully process what he saw, he asked, "God's the saggy old woman down the street who is parading around naked with her curtains open?" He looked away, trying to forget the image.

"No," Gabriel replied. He shook his head. "Did it ever occur to you to at least browse the Bible?"

"Never cared to, never will care to," Dean answered. "Think I've lived enough 'Bible' for one life."

"That's part of the problem." Gabriel folded his arms again. "You two are trying to find someone you don't even know, but if you pulled your heads out of your asses, you'd see the answer."

Sam tried to think. He went to church regularly with Jess. He had even gone to some services as a child when he could get away from Dean and John or stayed with someone who regularly attended church. "A burning bush?"

"You're supposed to be the smart one," Gabriel snorted before moving away from the front door.

Moments later, the front door opened and Chuck appeared. "It's okay, Gabriel. I knew they were coming." Chuck pushed the door open to let Sam and Dean enter the small ranch style house. He led them around back to the kitchen, speaking as they walked, "There's booze, sandwiches, also some pie in the fridge. Help yourself to whatever you want." He knew neither brother had eaten for hours. Chuck pulled out three beers and handed two of them to the brothers and reserving the third for himself.

"I need to know where He is," Dean said. His eyes narrowed and his gaze never left Chuck's face.

"Castiel is in Jerusalem now. He's causing some pandemonium," Chuck answered with a nervous twitch to his voice.

"Not him," Sam said. "We're looking for God," he watched Dean's face twist slightly as it tended to do at the purpose of their visit. "He's the only anything that can stop Cas."

"He's not 'the only anything,'" Chuck replied. "Castiel could figure out that he's – "

"Psycho? Doubtful." Dean kept watching Chuck. Again, he pulled himself to his full height and stepped forward, closer to the much shorter man. "You know where God is, Chuck – Hell, you might even be Him and be dicking with all of us." Dean started to lean over Chuck but before he could fully loom, something seemed to invisibly grab Dean by the collar and thrust him into a kitchen chair.

"Down, boy," Gabriel commanded. He set a large piece of pie in front of Dean on the table. "Eat something."

"Chuck," Sam tried to diffuse the situation and used a calm voice, "you don't have to tell us who God is, but maybe a location?"

Chuck looked at Sam, to Dean, to Gabriel, and then back to Sam. "You already know where." He walked over to the refrigerator to retrieve the promised sandwiches.

"Don't you dare say that necklace I threw away," Dean grumbled. He poked about the pie to deduce if it was a traitor or normal pie. He did not want to believe the pie would hurt, but Gabriel had offered it, so anything was possible. He took a taste bite, the idea it could be normal pie too tantalizing.

"No," Chuck said, "by 'you' I meant Sam." He sipped his beer and double-checked which sandwich contained what combination of ingredients.

"You know?" Dean asked Sam through a mouthful of pie. So far, it was normal and very, very good pie.

"I don't know," Sam said and looked at Dean. "Seriously. I don't like 'bow down or else' Cas as much as you don't." His gaze shifted back to Chuck. "I really don't know."

"You do," Chuck said, "but you probably haven't thought about it. When you sat in church with Jess, you heard all these accounts of God on Earth." He brought the sandwiches to the table. "You've read the Bible. You know this." He met Sam's gaze. "Just think about it."

Sam sat in the open chair across from Dean at the table. Soon Chuck joined him. Gabriel sat between Sam and Chuck. Gabriel leaned over and poked Sam in the forehead. "Don't strain your brain, or you'll end up like your brother. It'll all be pie and tits."

Sam's nose wrinkled. He checked the sandwich and approved the turkey on wheat with tomato and lettuce. Before he dug in, the answer came to him. He looked at the others and then his sandwich. "Too easy."

"It's still delicious," Dean spoke up through a mouthful of roast beef and cheddar.

"No, I mean, God." Sam set his sandwich down. "He's been staring us in the face the whole time. Sort of."

"So who is He?" Dean cast a wary eye towards Chuck and Gabriel. Chuck continued concentrating on his ham and Swiss sandwich and Gabriel's lips turned upwards in a teasing smirk.

"It's nature," Sam said. "Think about it. Rain that lasts forty days and forty nights, bushes catching on fire, rainbows, that light I saw reflecting off the Impala when I finally managed to get some kind of control over Lucifer – that's God, Dean. We've been looking for a person, but He's not even an animal."

"Well, that's just peachy," Dean paused, "maybe literally, but how is a ray of light off the windshield going to help us? I don't want to bring Cas in front of my baby to have him have some godly tantrum all over it."

"I don't mean literally every glint off the Impala's windshield," Sam said, "just in that moment, you know?" He took a bite of his sandwich.

Dean looked at Chuck. "Is that the truth?" He knew asking Gabriel would get nowhere.

"Can't hurt to try, right?" Chuck finished his sandwich. "There's a lot of nature in my backyard."

Dean turned in his seat to look out the full-length window next to the kitchen door. The backyard was tiny with a small pear tree and a medium-sized maple tree along with some assorted shrubbery along the property lines. There was a birdbath at the far end of the property and a small shed in a corner. It looked like a whole lot of nothing.

"You also have to be open to Him," Gabriel spoke up then, his lips quirking into something brattier than a smirk. "God can talk all He wants, but if you've got earplugs in, you won't hear a word."

"Well I don't see any earplugs." Dean finished off his food. "You see any earplugs, Sam?"

"You don't want me to answer that," Sam replied. He finished off his food. "Like Chuck said, worth a shot."

Dean sighed. He got up from his place at the table. "Well, then we all go out there, and see what happens." Dean led the way out the door and into Chuck's backyard. Dean surveyed the others finding Sam expectant, Chuck nervous, and Gabriel considering trickstering up some popcorn to go with his entertainment. Dean shifted his weight. The overcast sky was a monotone light gray color with nothing to focus on when looking upwards. It was not inspiring faith.

"Don't be rude, or He might just ignore us all together," Sam cautioned.

"I know, I know." However, Dean did not. He took a deep breath and said, "Look, God," he made a face, but he had to believe that this would work if he wanted to help Castiel, "You know me. I'm not going to pretend to be something I'm not, but we both know that Castiel is having one hell of a teenage rebellious phase. So, can't You just ground him, or detox him, or something?"

Sam eyed Dean. "What he means is that we need help." Sam clasped his hands properly as he had many times in church. "If anyone can stop Castiel, it'd be You."

Both brothers waited. Dean could sense more than see Chuck shifting his weight behind them. After a long moment, Dean moved his gaze to Sam. "Well, so much for nature." He turned his back to where Sam watched the sky and then things began to brighten. Dean felt the sun's heat against his neck as it pierced the clouds. A humming like a bad dog whistle began to fill his ears. "What…the…?" He placed his hands over his ears as the humming picked up intensity.

"But…" Sam said, the rest of the sentence lost on Dean's ears as the hum began again.

Sam stopped and looked at Dean. Dean's knees buckled and he knelt hard on the grass. Sam started to move towards Dean. "What's – "

Gabriel approached Dean and put his hands over Dean's ears. "Just plead your case, I got this." When Sam stared a moment longer, Gabriel smirked. "I could change him into a toy bone if you'd rather, but I can't make promises what the neighbors' dogs might do to him."

"I'm good," Sam replied and then turned his attention back towards the sun, finding it odd that the sun's rays did not burn his eyes. "As I said, maybe it's asking too much but Castiel…" Sam stopped talking as the sun began to glow ever so slightly brighter. "He meant well." Sam shifted his weight. The more he said, the more he felt like a child might who was trying to negotiate his best friend out of a grounding to come out and play, even if Dean had started the conversation differently. "I guess partnering with the King of Hell does seem counterproductive, but You brought him back for something, right?"

The sun dimmed and then brightened one last time before slipping back behind the clouds. Sam's shoulders sagged. Gabriel removed his hands from Dean's ears. Dean looked up at the sky and then at Sam. "What'd It say?"

Sam ran his hands through his hair. "He said that only Cas can stop it."

"What?" Dean got up from the ground. "I thought He was all knowing, all seeing. What the hell is He not seeing?"

Sam rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not that He can't see what Castiel is doing, Dean. He's just…He didn't put it quite this way, but He's letting Cas make a mistake. He said that something's about to happen that will teach Cas more."

"Something?" Dean eyed Sam. "Like what?" Then his gaze shifted to Chuck before at the grass then the sky. He did not want a repeat of kiddie band-aids and veggie burgers. "So he goes nuclear or worse and then what?"

"Cas learns something I guess?" Sam's gaze shifted to Chuck and Gabriel. "That's what you two heard, right?"

"I didn't hear anything," Chuck answered. "God only talks to the people talking to him like a private phone call."

Gabriel did not answer the question.

Dean stretched his neck and then shook his head. "We should go. That thing going around isn't Cas, but when he goes nuclear, maybe he'll go back to normal."

"'That thing going around' is Castiel," Gabriel spoke. His eyes found Dean's gaze. "You told me once that I couldn't run away from what was happening. You can't run away from the truth either."

"I'm not running away. He's not right in the head," Dean answered.

"He's a desperate angel who could only find support in a demon!" Gabriel snapped.

"Yeah and where were you? Hiding? You sure do a lot of it," Dean countered.

Chuck reached up and grabbed Gabriel's arm before he could snap Dean into something regrettable. "Now's not the time to fight," his voice was firm, but Chuck quickly let go of Gabriel's arm, not wanting to push Gabriel farther either. "You want to help Castiel, right? It's more than just stopping him," Chuck paused, "right?"

Dean shifted his weight. Sam looked like he might nod, but he did not want to step on Dean's slower thought process. "If we stop him, then we help him," Dean finally stated. "That's how it works."

"What if it doesn't go that way?" Sam asked. Dean gave Sam a warning look, but Sam did not back down. "What if he explodes with power or turns into a demon? There's a consequence coming, Dean."

"There are consequences happening already," Dean almost growled. He looked at Chuck and Gabriel. Then put his hands in his pockets to grab onto his keys. "We should go." They had things to do. If God could not help them, Dean would find something else. He started this whole mess and he knew he had to finish it.

**The End**


End file.
